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With so many brilliant productions running back-to-back in the main theatre of the Royal Exchange, it can be easy to forget the 90-seater studio that the venue also offers allowing smaller, often touring, performances an intimate theatre space within the beautiful building. Despite being a regular visitor, I had ashamedly overlooked some of the performances on offer in favour of the larger shows. However, the advertising for Arch 468's Cuddles very much intrigued me and so, with a midweek day off, I ventured into the studio for what turned out to be a truly unique piece of theatre.

No one wins competitions, right? That's what I always thought, so you can imagine my surprise when I ended up winning the opportunity to head down to London for an advance screening of Pitch Perfect 2 with Stylist magazine followed by a Q+A with the film's star Anna Kendrick hosted by comedian Sarah Millican! After a long and laborious coach journey down from Manchester (apparently I get really travel sick - who knew?), we began our time in London with some intense sight-seeing, hitting every landmark possible in a few hours before heading to the swanky Mayfair Hotel for the screening itself. The venue was beautiful - we were greeted for a drinks reception in the Crystal Room which was incredibly impressive and full of excited chatter as the winners mingled and sipped free wine.

Caitlin Moran has been making quite a stir recently. From a regular column in The Times, to a career as a bestselling author, to most recently co-writing Channel 4 sitcom Raised by Wolves, her particular brand of candid and unashamed feminism seems to be everywhere and I for one could not be happier. As a big fan of her work, I was therefore very glad to be able to spend a couple of hours in her presence on her recent tour.

About

Hannah Simpson is a writer, blogger and musical theatre enthusiast based in North West England, UK.

As a recent English graduate, she currently blogs on a freelance basis covering a range of topics that include literature, art and food critique. Between blog posts she'll either be found with her head in a book, or on her phone composing her next Tweet.